New Guide Finds 50 Best Campgrounds in New York State

Best Tent Camping: New York State will release its 2nd edition in October, from Menasha Ridge Press.

Leaves are starting to change and temperatures are starting to drop here in New York. For some, that means a retreat indoors for the winter. But for many New Yorkers, it means some of the year’s best camping is close at hand.

Starmer, along with co-authors Cate and Timothy Starmer, attributes New York’s outdoor wealth primarily to the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park and Forest Preserve, a green space that covers one-fifth of the state.

But it’s more than just the Adirondacks. Because state-owned “forever wild” forests all over the state are interspersed with private lands, “New York is perfect for tent campers, as the wilderness surrounds you, but supplies and other recreational opportunities always remain nearby,” explains Cate Starmer.

The Starmers’ new camping guide demonstrates the wide reach and variety of New York’s camping resources, from the mountainous Adirondacks and the Catskills, to the human history of the Leatherstocking region, to the Finger Lakes to Long Island, Thousand Islands, and western state for the water-loving campers.

The authors have combed through the thousands of New York campgrounds to find the 50 best, rating them by beauty, privacy, quiet, cleanliness, security, and spaciousness.

“When most people think of New York, they naturally think of the Big Apple,” the Starmers write in their introduction, “There’s so much beyond its borders, especially for those interested in the outdoors.”Click here to purchase a copy.